The USS Farquhar (DE-139) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort constructed by the Consolidated Steel Corporation in Orange, Texas, and launched on February 13, 1943. She was commissioned on August 5, 1943, and named in honor of Rear Admiral Norman von Heldreich Farquhar. The vessel was built for antisubmarine warfare and convoy escort duties during World War II. Farquhar's service began with her arrival at Norfolk, Virginia, on October 3, 1943. She participated in multiple convoy escort missions to Casablanca, with her first voyage beginning on October 4, 1943. Throughout her wartime operations, she frequently returned to New York for repairs and replenishment between missions. Notably, on April 3, 1944, she joined a hunter-killer group centered around USS Core to protect a convoy en route to Casablanca, actively hunting submarines in the area. In June 1944, Farquhar trained in antisubmarine tactics off Bermuda with the Wake Island hunter-killer group. During her service, she was involved in rescue operations, including saving 186 survivors from the torpedoed USS Fiske on August 2, 1944. She continued escort duties in the South Atlantic with the Mission Bay hunter-killer group, patrolling along the coast of Brazil, West Africa, and South Africa. During a submarine hunt near the Cape Verde Islands on September 30, 1944, Farquhar made contact with a suspected submarine and conducted a depth charge attack, which contributed to her post-war recognition as the last American ship to sink a German U-boat in the Atlantic during the conflict—U-881. Following preparations in Boston and Guantanamo Bay, Farquhar transferred to the Pacific theater, arriving at Pearl Harbor in August 1945. She supported operations at Eniwetok and participated in the surrender of Ponape in September 1945. She then served as a station ship for several months before returning to the U.S. East Coast in early 1946. The ship was decommissioned on June 14, 1946, and placed in reserve at Green Cove Springs, Florida. Farquhar was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in October 1972 and scrapped in 1974. Throughout her service, she earned one battle star for her World War II operations, highlighting her contribution to the Allied war effort.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.